3D printing technology is rapidly transforming supply chains across diverse manufacturing sectors, enabling personalisation of consumer goods ranging from car parts, medical devices, toys, houses, and even clothing. Food production is also included in the breadth of applications of this expanding technology. Increasing consumer awareness about sustainability, including the problem of food waste, as well as growing interest in customised nutrition have led to the emergence of food industry research focused on aspects, such as packaging, portion size, and healthy sustainable ingredients, to satisfy consumer demands. The growing market for personalised food options in particular, requires increased flexibility and agility to tailor ingredients to an individual’s specific requirements. Such specificity is not easily fulfilled using traditional mass production methods; however, the emerging technology of 3D food printing (3DFP) may be one solution. This paper evaluates the opportunities, risks, and challenges associated with 3DFP, with a focus on developing sustainable supply chains for future growth. Drawing on 12 semi-structured interviews with 3DFP industry managers and current literature in the domain, we propose three supply chain models for 3DFP services, as well as an overview of the key business drivers.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify challenges faced by industrial firms at different phases of adoption of 3D printing (3DP), and outline how 3DP service providers can help address these challenges. Design/methodology/approach: Separate interview questionnaires for 3DP users and 3DP service providers were used to conduct semi-structured interviews. Findings: The key 3DP adoption challenges are as follows: creating a business case; difficulty in using different materials; optimising the process for specific parts; lack of “plug and play” solutions offered by equipment manufacturers; limited availability of training and educational support; poor end product quality; machine breakdowns; and high cost of maintenance and spare components. Using the theoretical lens of the technology acceptance model, results show a lack of ease of use and technological turbulence impact companies’ decisions to adopt 3DP. 3DP service providers can indeed attempt to alleviate the above challenges faced by customers through providing multiple 3DP services across different stages of adoption. Research limitations/implications: Future research should examine the role of 3DP equipment manufacturers and design and modeling software solutions providers in improving adoption and how 3DP equipment manufacturers could develop into more integrated service providers as the technology advances. Practical implications: Service providers can help customers transition to 3DP and should develop a portfolio of services that fits different phases of adoption. Originality/value: The paper outlines how 3DP service providers can help address customer challenges in adoption of 3DP across different stages of adoption.

Purpose: The emergence and application of 3D Printing (3DP) is changing the way products are developed and reach the customer, allowing for unprecedented customisation options. Past research has focussed on the modus operandi of the technology, providing indications for wider future adoption. 3DP is predicted to complement current production processes and is anticipated to have a profound effect on the value chain and, therefore, on supply chain (SC) management. Management-related 3DP research has, however, been largely fragmented in terms of analysing the strategic deployment of 3DP and the corresponding effects on performance objectives. The aim of this paper is to identify, define and exemplify typical 3DP deployment strategies pursued. Design/methodology/approach: The approach taken is a critical literature review, synthesising and interpreting past research on cross-industry deployment of 3DP, including illustrative examples. This enabled the development of a framework of current stage knowledge. Findings: Building on past research, the authors propose a conceptual framework to be used as a classification system for 3DP operations, based on process and SC level configurations across different industries. They discuss the potential impact on operations performance objectives and then highlight research gaps, proposing specific research avenues to enhance understanding of the effects of 3DP adoption on SCs. Practical implications: The proposed framework outlines strategic guidelines for 3DP and provides practitioners with the range of strategic options available for 3DP deployment and anticipated impacts on performance. Originality/value: The framework can be used to map 3DP deployment at an operational level and identify the likely impact on performance objectives. Relevant implications and a future research agenda are explored.

How a supply chain (SC) is configured can have a significant impact on the performance of global firms. More specifically, disturbance factors (i.e. those factors associated with uncertainty and risk) are increasingly important considerations. This paper focuses on endogenous, exogenous and environment-related SC disturbance factors and their relative importance when configuring global SCs. Three alternative scenarios of SC configurations for European-based pharmaceutical firms are identified – insource nearshore, outsource nearshore and outsource offshore. Through a multi-phase, mixed-methods approach we find that the top five disturbance factors managers should be aware of while configuring their SCs are quality defects, unforeseen and random interruptions in manufacturing processes, order processing difficulties, untimely delivery of products and a mismatch between market demand and supplier responsiveness. This study is able to provide insights into the impact of disturbance factors on the SC configuration strategy for Big Pharmas (BPs). We show that SC disturbances influenced the decision to bring production back home (reshoring) or to a closer location (nearshoring). To mitigate the effects of disturbances many BPs recalibrated their SC configurations by insourcing core products, outsourcing non-core products offshore and developing offshore insourcing capabilities through ‘captives’.